Build service pages, keep every location's Business Profile complete, ask every patient for a review, publish education under the dentist's name, post about your team, and send recall emails to patients who opted in. Avoid promised results, and keep tracking off patient forms.
Measure new patients booked by service and source, and recall bookings.
Twelve dental marketing ideas
All online, and all built on trust:
The ADA Code on advertising
The ADA Code of Professional Conduct (section 5.F) says any dentist may advertise, but not in a way that is false or misleading in any material respect, including on social media. Its advisory opinions say an article or newsletter published under a dentist's byline must truthfully disclose its source and authorship, and that dentists should avoid statements likely to create an unjustified expectation about results, and claims of superior quality that cannot be substantiated. The ADA's Code page notes that ethical duties can exceed legal ones; your state dental board's rules apply too.
Reviews and before-and-after photos
Reviews matter: in BrightLocal's 2026 survey, reported by PinMeTo, 85% of US adults said positive reviews made them more likely to use a business. The FTC's reviews rule bars fake reviews, rewarding reviews of a particular sentiment, and suppressing negative ones by threats or false accusations. Before-and-after photos and patient stories are endorsements: the FTC's Endorsement Guides say they will likely be read as typical results, so show typical cases or say what patients generally experience, disclose any payment or free treatment given, and get written consent for every image.
HIPAA limits on tracking and email
The HHS Office for Civil Rights bulletin on online tracking says a tracking vendor that receives protected health information, such as appointment details, is a business associate and needs a business associate agreement; a June 2024 court order vacated one part of the bulletin, on IP addresses and public pages, and HHS is evaluating next steps. Keep ad pixels and session recording off booking and patient forms unless the vendor has signed a BAA. A BAA is not enough on its own: the same bulletin says disclosing PHI to tracking vendors for marketing without the patient's HIPAA authorization is an impermissible disclosure. Marketing other products or services to patients using their information generally needs their authorization under 45 CFR 164.508; recall reminders about their own care are a different matter, so agree the rules with your privacy officer. Marketing email also follows the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide.
Local search and social media
Google's local ranking tips name relevance, distance and prominence, and say reviews add to prominence; a complete profile and a page per service help relevance. On social media, posts about your team and practice build familiarity; keep patient faces and details out unless you have written consent, and never answer clinical questions in public comments. Our social media service plans these posts.
How to measure dental marketing
New patients booked and seen, by service and source; recall and reactivation bookings; review count and recency; and cost per new patient by channel, from your practice management system. Followers and clicks are context.
What we do and do not do
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. We build dental service pages, local search, review programs and social content through our healthcare SEO and social media services. We do no photo shoots, events or printing; photos come from your practice with consent. We sign HIPAA business associate agreements where our work touches protected health information, never call ourselves HIPAA compliant, and promise no results. Our healthcare marketing page describes the work. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.